1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to coin or gaming token hoppers or storage systems typically located inside a lockable cabinet in which the gaming machine is also housed, and, more particularly, relates to an improved coin or gaming token hopper system in which, after the coins are counted, are delivered to a coin storage container known as a coin hopper located beneath the coin counting and moving mechanism, but can also be delivered to one or more additional coin hoppers located in front of or to the rear of, above or to the right or to the left of, the coin counting and moving mechanism thereby improving security and minimizing customer play interruption on payout and coin service intervals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A gaming machine, such as a "slot" machine, or the like, receives coins, paper money, or gaming tokens, and the game is played, and, if the gaming machine registers a win, the gaming machine dispenses one or more coins or gaming tokens into a coin tray accessible to the gaming player as the prize or award. Typically, to play a gaming machine, coins or gaming tokens are first deposited into a coin slot which delivers the coin or token into the gaming machine inside a locked cabinet. Once the coins or tokens are deposited into the gaming machine, the money, in the form of coins, is typically counted and then delivered into a coin hopper located beneath the coin counting and moving mechanism inside a locked, protective cabinet in which the gaming machine and the money is housed. Usually, because of the instant gratification that the gaming customer receives from receiving a prize or an award in the form of coins, the gaming machines will pay out the prize by removing coins from the cache of customer-deposited coins in the coin hopper and thereafterwards discharging these coins into a customer-accessible coin tray located at the front of the gaming machine cabinet.
In the present state-of-the-art gaming machines' coin hopper designs, means are provided for discharging the coins directly from the coin hopper into the coin pay-out tray for receipt by the customer, or game player. Obviously, however, there is a limit to the number of coins that the coin hopper can physically hold, the size and coin-carrying capacity being restricted by the allowable size of the cabinet housing of the gaming machine. The floor space in gaming establishments is so expensive and limited that every square foot of floor space must be productive. As a result, the gaming machine cabinet is limited in size to a specific amount of horizontally-disposed floor space. Consequently, in view of the limitation on the number of coins that can be stored inside a gaming machine due to the gaming machine cabinet size limitations, a significant problem is presented when the volume and frequency of the gaming action must be increased to pay for the sizeable operating costs of the gaming establishments without increasing the size of the gaming establishment. The present invention, both apparatus and method disclosed herein, provides for significant productivity gains of coin-operated gaming machines by increasing the coin-holding and storage capacity of the gaming machines by vertically stacking additional coin-hoppers and coin storage containers without increasing the size of the floor square-footage used by the gaming machine and its cabinet.
One of the major problems faced by the gaming industry is theft of money from the gaming machines. To prevent or deter such theft, gaming machine cabinets are preferably constructed so as to thwart and reduce unauthorized access to the money deposited by gaming machine players and held and stored inside the gaming machine cabinet.
Another way to minimize theft or coin shortages relative to the coins deposited in the gaming machine is to reduce the number of times that the gaming machine must be accessed over a 24 hour period to remove the excess coins deposited into the gaming machines by the players. Such excess coins represent, in part, the profits for gaming machine owners.
Another significant and important method used to reduce losses due to unauthorized coin shortages is to provide a means for depositing a pre-measured, or pre-counted number of excess coins into coin bags to effectively pre-package such excess coins prior to the removal of the bagged coins from the gaming machine cabinet. (The term "excess" coins is used to describe the extra coins which remain after the coin hoppers are all filled to capacity to ensure that in the event of a large win or coin payout that there are sufficient coins to pay out one or more large coin payouts from coins housed within the gaming machine cabinet.) By arranging a number of the coin bags on a turnstile or turntable, several coin bags can be used to receive a large number of coins. By doing so, the number of times during a 24 hour period that the gaming machine cabinet must be unlocked for the purpose of removing the excess coins, is significantly reduced. Still further, the use of standard size coin bags eliminates the additional expense and task of counting the coins again since the value of the coins can be determined by merely counting the coin bags before the coin bags or containers are removed from the gaming machine cabinet; hence, there is no need to individually re-count all the coins in the coin bags again; such can be accomplished simply by weighing the bag of coins, subtracting the tare weight of the coin bag, and dividing the remainder by the weight of each coin.
The prior art uncovered by the inventor herein pertains primarily to coin counting and sorting mechanisms rather than to coin or token-operated gaming machines with multiple coin hoppers. Nevertheless, such coin counting and sorting mechanisms are used as part of a gaming machine and are distant cousins. Similar methods for handling the coins and gaming tokens deposited therein are used today.
The prior art patents discovered by the inventor herein are as follows. U.S. Pat. No. 3,695,279 (Black et al.) relates to a high speed coin counting and sorting mechanism. Various coins of different sizes and values can be counted and sorted by this machine. The coins are deposited into an accumulating receiver 16. Once the bag 30 in FIGS. 1 and 2 is filled, excess coins are deflected by deflector 14 and are directed to an endless belt 26 which returns the coins to the supply for recycling. When the bag is full of the desired number of a particular denomination of coins, a signal light 28 is actuated and the alerts the operator who may then remove the bag or other container 30 from the receiver 16 and replace it with an empty container and then actuate a reset button 32 to restore the deflector 14 to its lower position and initiate the counting and sorting of a new series of coins of that denomination.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,746,211 (Burgess, Jr.) relates to a vibratory quantifying or counting apparatus for determining a numerical quantity of items or articles of similar geometric configuration. It is primarily useful as a means for counting and sorting pills or capsules, but can also be used for counting washers, bolts, coins, etc. The chutes and their arrangement are novel in combination with the gate means for diverting parts or coins or pills after a predetermined number has been reached.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,540 (De Meyer et al.) relates to a coin processing machine which employs a coin hopper 19 which empties into a coin splitting chute assembly 25 with divergent spouts 27 and 28 to deliver a half batch of coins to each of two coin sorters 38 and 39 operating in parallel. Following the coin sorting operation, the coins are delivered from the bottom of the coin sorters 38 and 39 to a pair of stationary coin bags 49 for storage and removal.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,620,559 (Childers, et al.) relates to coin sorting and counting apparatus generally indicated at 10. Three coin loading trays 22 are hingedly attached to the funnel 20 by their open end for dumping of a batch of coins in the trays 22 into the funnel 20. The loading tray 22 containing the batch of coins to be processed may be tilted upwardly to dump the coins into the frame 20 by lifting the loading tray upward and pivoting the tray about a hinge 22a. Positioned below the funnel 20 is a coin hopper 34 to receive the batch of coins dumped from the loading tray 22 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5. The hopper 34 is rigidly attached to a queueing head 36 and extends upwardly therefrom. As the coins come through the central opening 35 of the head 36, the coins enter a loading area and encounter the centrifugal force generated by the rotating upper surface of the disc 38. The disc 38 then carries the coins in the queue positioned adjacent to the peripheral rim of the disc 38 to the coin-engaging wheels 60 for sorting by denomination. The coins are hurled over the peripheral rim 40 of the disc 38 by the centrifugal force into a coin-catching device 62. The coins are counted by an electro-optical sense 64 as they are traveling through the air. The flight paths of the coins after they leave the rotating disc 38 are shown by broken-line arrows in FIG. 5. Coin holding tanks 172 are provided for temporarily holding each denomination of coin being sorted. Later, the coins in the holding tank 172 are deposited in the coin-collecting receptacle 86 for than particular denomination of coin. The operator must open the slide gate 178 for the holding tank 172 to transfer the coins in the holding tank to the coin-collecting receptacle 86. The coin-collecting receptacles 86 have an open upper end and are sized to receive a coin bag 188 therein. The coin collecting receptacles 86 are secured to the rotatable carrier plate 82 by a detachable hinge. The operator may open the door 16, rotate the inner frame 68 relative to the stationary base 14, and hence the coin-collecting receptacles 86 on the carrier plate 82 to position the indicated receptacle in the door opening. The carrier plate 82 may be positively locked for prevent unintended rotation when a coin-collecting receptacle 86 is being tilted forward or removed, and to provide a means for indexing to insure the receptacle is properly positioned in the center of the door opening. Each of the holding tanks 172 are removably fixed to the wall 74 by a combination of lug 173 and a removable fastener 175. The discs, quequeing head, sorting wheels, counters, bag receptacles, and coin holding tanks 172 are mounted for rotation with the frame, and may be rotated to selectively bring a bag receptacle to the operator for its removal while the machine is sorting and counting coins. Basically, in this invention, the coin hopper or coin holding tanks are beneath coin loading aperture, and, the coin-collecting receptacles 86 are arranged on the top of a rotatable carrier plate 82, or manually-operable rotating carousel.
None of the above prior art devices or other devices or methods known to the inventor, including those referenced herein, teach or disclose the improved combination of a gaming machine incorporating a multiplicity of coin holders, hoppers or drops, positionally arranged above the coin slot and coin counter, to the rear of the coin counter and hopper, and disposed laterally therefrom. Neither does any of the prior art devices or methods known to the inventor use or incorporate a rotating carousel, disposed below the coin hoppers and adapted to hold a multiplicity of bags or containers for receiving coins. Such a rotating carousel is yet another feature to be incorporated to further enhanced the new and unique features of this new and novel arrangement all of which creates a vastly improved and more productive gaming machine without increasing the size of the floor footprint over previous gaming machine designs.